Rice breeding for salt tolerance

Human exploitation of earth’s resources is leading to new problems day by day and hence newer methods are devised to overcome the same. One such case is breeding for abiotic stress, utilizing even non arable land, to feed the ever increasing population. A major stress leading to yield loss can be due to inland and coastal salinity. Rice is the most important cereal crop which feeds humans on earth. This review tries to analyse the efforts of breeders in minimising the effects of salt stress on the yield of rice crop

Anticonvulsant effect of lercanidipine against pentylenetetrazole induced kindling in mice

Background: Emerging evidence has demonstrated the role of high-voltage -sensitive activated dihydropyridine (L-type, CaV1.x) channels in the development of epilepsy. Based on that we hypothesized that lercanidipine, a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker, would protect against Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced kindling in mice model of epilepsy.Methods: Kindling was induced in Swiss albino mice with PTZ in subconvulsive dose (30 mg/kg i.p.) thrice a week for nine weeks and the effect was scored using ‘4 point scoring system’. Rechallenging on the 3rd and 10th day with the same dose of PTZ was carried out after the last chronic dose.Results: The data of the present study demonstrated that pretreatment with lercanidipine (½ h before PTZ, in doses of 1 and 3 mg/kg i.p. daily) alone and in combination with diazepam (2mg/kg i.p.) had decreased the incidence and severity of seizure as well as prolonged the onset of kindling in a dose-dependent manner (p <0.05). On rechallenging, lercanidipine resulted in reduction of seizure score (p <0.05) and increased the seizure latency.Conclusions: The present study suggested that lercanidipine offered neuroprotection against PTZ induced kindling in mice

Progress of Biorefinery in India

India is one among the world’s largest economies and its energy demand accounts for 3.5% of world’s commercial energy consumption. According to the International Energy Agency oil demand in India is expected to grow by a factor 2.2 by 2030, increasing the oil import dependency from 69% now to 91%. Rising energy prices and climate change are increasing the demand for biofuel production. The Planning Commission of India recommends replacing 20% of India’s diesel consumption mainly by non-edible Jatropha oil and Pongamia. Biorefinery could be one of the best solutions to overcome the problem. A review on the progress of biorefinery in India is attempted

Comparative Account of Jatropha curcas on Brass (Cu-40Zn) in Acid and Sea Water Environment

ABSTRACT The inhibition efficacy of alcoholic leaf extract of Jatropha curcas on Brass (Cu-40Zn) in 1N Hydrochloric Acid and natural sea water environment are carried out using mass loss measurements. Experiments are performed by varying immersion period, concentration of the inhibitor and temperature. The inhibition efficiency is markedly higher in addition of Jatropha curcas leaves extract in both media and compared with those in the inhibitor free solution. The inhibition efficiency increased with an increase of inhibitor concentration but decreased with rise in temperature and exposure time. Corrosion inhibition may be due to the spontaneous physical adsorption of the plant constituents on the surface of Brass. Experimental data fitted with the Langmuir and Frumkin adsorption isotherms. Comparing the corrosion product on the surface of Brass in the presence of inhibitor at both environments is studied by UV and IR spectra

Immune Complex-Induced, Nitric Oxide-Mediated Vascular Endothelial Cell Death by Phagocytes Is Prevented with Decoy FcyReceptors

Autoimmune vasculitis is an endothelial inflammatory disease that results from the deposition of immune-complexes (ICs) in blood vessels. The interaction between Fcgamma receptors (FcyRs) expressed on inflammatory cells with ICs is known to cause blood vessel damage. Hence, blocking the interaction of ICs and inflammatory cells is essential to prevent the IC-mediated blood vessel damage. Thus we tested if uncoupling the interaction of FcyRs and ICs prevents endothelium damage. Herein, we demonstrate that dimeric FcyR-Igs prevented nitric oxide (NO) mediated apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in an in vitro vasculitis model. Dimeric FcyR-Igs significantly inhibited the IC-induced upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nitric oxide (NO) release by murine monocytic cell line. However, FcyR-Igs did not affect the exogenously added NO-induced upregulation of pro-apoptotic genes such as Bax (15 fold), Bak (35 fold), cytochrome-C (11 fold) and caspase-3 (30 fold) in HUVECs. In conclusion, these data suggest that IC-induced NO could be one of the major inflammatory mediator promoting blood vessel inflammation and endothelial cell death during IC-mediated vasculitis which can be effectively blocked by dimeric decoy FcyRs

Using high-resolution contact networks to evaluate SARS-CoV-2 transmission and control in large-scale multi-day events

The emergence of highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants has created a need to reassess the risk posed by increasing social contacts as countries resume pre-pandemic activities, particularly in the context of resuming large-scale events over multiple days. To examine how social contacts formed in different activity settings influences interventions required to control Delta variant outbreaks, we collected high-resolution data on contacts among passengers and crew on cruise ships and combined the data with network transmission models. We found passengers had a median of 20 (IQR 10–36) unique close contacts per day, and over 60% of their contact episodes were made in dining or sports areas where mask wearing is typically limited. In simulated outbreaks, we found that vaccination coverage and rapid antigen tests had a larger effect than mask mandates alone, indicating the importance of combined interventions against Delta to reduce event risk in the vaccine era

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Protective effect of Toddalia asatica leaf extract on Mild steel in 1.0N HCl

A study has been made on the Novel corrosion inhibitor on mild steel in 1.0N HCl. Commonly deterioration of steel is caused due to various environmental and other chemical factors. It is unavoidable but protectable using inhibition methods. Here the usual inhibitor is replaced by green inhibitors to evade toxicity, easy availability, and to minimize the waste. This work seeks out to analyze the dried leaves of Todalia Asiatica as an inhibitor on mild steel in 1.0N HCl.&nbsp; The anticorrosive effectiveness of this inhibitor is studied by using non- electrochemical and electrochemical techniques. Non -electrochemical studies such as the effect of time (87.6%) and temperature (93.0%) at optimum concentration show the maximum inhibition efficiency of the inhibitor due to the formation of an inhibited layer by the inhibitor on the metal surface. Langmuir isotherm most closely fits into the info data obtained suggesting the physical adsorption between the extract and the mild steel substrate. Electrochemical such as potentiodynamic polarization studies proved that extract of Todalia Asiatica dried leaves is a cathodic type of inhibitor and 85.12% inhibition efficiency provided by the inhibitor. Charge Transfer Resistance (Rct) value increased and also Double-layer capacitance (Cdl) value decreases by EIS studies. The observed inhibitor efficiency at optimum inhibitor concentration is 84.05%. Surface and corrosion product Analysis (EDX/FTIR)&nbsp; was carried out to determine the corrosion-inhibitive properties of the samples

Electrochemical behaviour of Solanum trilobatum plant extract on stainless steel in natural sea water environment

Abstract In the present work, inhibition efficacy of Solanum trilobatum leaves (STL) extract on the corrosion of stainless steel in natural sea water environment is studied by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. Results from the study indicate that the inhibition efficiency increased with increase of inhibitor concentration and achieved maximum of more than 80% for polarization as well as impedance measurements. Electrochemical measurements show that both polarization and charge transfer resistances increases with increase of inhibitor concentration. The adsorption of STL inhibitor on the stainless steel surface obeys Frumkin adsorption isotherm and the calculated values of ∆G ads indicate that the adsorbed layer is spontaneous and stable one. Key words: Electrochemical, inhibition, stainless steel and Frumkin Cite this article as: Deepa Rani P,Selvaraj S. Electrochemical behaviour of Solanum trilobatum plant extract on stainless steel in natural sea water environment. Annalen der Chemischen Forschung. 2013;1(3):1-9